Four Horsemen: Chapter 11 Part 1 of 2

Chapter 11:

Desari led the group into the guild courtyard.

Mounted guild members flowed into the stables, she passed them, moving for the entrance as a group of adventurers were hauled out, some going peacefully, one of them fighting, basically carried by four guards.

“What the hell are you doing, do you know who I am?” A man yelled as he was hauled towards a barred carriage, fighting with four guards at the same time as a priest wearing a mask followed them.

“You are found to be a heretic by the church of Jorai, you shall stand trial for your cimes!” The man hissed.

“We’re not heretics!” A woman yelled out, turning on the masked priest, a guard next to her clocked her hard, she sagged, the two guards grabbing and shoving her into the barred carriage.

“I’m a damn guild member, get your fucking hands off of me! You can’t do this!”

“The guild has agreed!”

“Fucking hick ass fucking guild halls! You agreed to the charters!” The man coughed from the punch in the gut and slammed against the bars face first and thrown inside, blood streaking down his face he was tossed into the carriage.

“What are you looking at?” The priest snarled at the surrounding adventurers.

“Get those spies out of here!” Someone wearing a guild hall administer outfit waved them off. “Get out the way of the inquisition.” They glared at the adventurers in the stables who backed away from the cart and the surrounding guards as they marched out of the courtyard.

“I’m not a fucking spy! I’m a guild member! Someone help me!” A man yelled in the cage, rewarded with a spear butt to the gut.

Something is wrong here. The priest had called them heretics, the guild member was saying they were spies and the guild members and the inquisitor priest seemed to be supporting one another.

Desari averted her eyes and headed into the hall, people started moving as the cart disappeared, the cries of the adventurers silenced with spear hits, turning into low whimpering.

Lanterns were being lit, illuminating the tavern area.

Desari and Valter pulled out their requests from the smithy and apothecary.

“Another lovely day filled with labor,” Mya grumbled as they reached the back of the line.

“Build’s character,” Petor said, looking around. “The hell are they using a bell for? That’s way more than six.” Realization crept over him.

“We’re under attack!” A guild member yelled running in through the front door.

“Head to your rally positions!” A guild administrator yelled.

Seats were pushed back and feet thundered on stairs and people rushed out of their rooms.

People shovelled down food and drink as they rose.

“Where the hell are we supposed to go?” Petor asked.

“Head to the wall, they’ll figure it out,” Desari said.

“Your meals will be added to your guild tabs!” A woman yelled, shooing them out of the hall.

Desari joined the press with the others, flooding out of the hall, rushing to their mounts, groups were riding for the wall already. Bells from watchtowers and the smaller churches across the city rang out.

Down the sloping city Desari could see boulders and flaming pots racing through the air to crash against the wall and inside it. Long-armed catapults mounted on the walls returned fire in the rising dawn sun, burning through the early fog.

“If you don’t have an assigned rally point, head to the Southeastern gate!” A guild administrator yelled.

Lucky that I at least gained yellow flecks to my orange core from yesterday’s work. The increase was welcome, the renewed fighting was not. Her alchemy already giving her more essence than killing the low level fighters of this realm could give her.

***

Petor jogged with the others, leaving the fountained streets of Sorelli, entering the rough, muddy roads and wooden buildings of the slums.

A mother and her children pushed against a cart, their expressions blank, the older boys and girls keeping their hands close to their blades as they struggled up the hill towards the cathedral.

“This way!” Mya turned down a street, her mount’s horseshoes sparking on the cobbles. Turning away from a sea of fire that covered their path.

“Doesn’t seem the smartest to be running towards the wall under that!” Valter yelled.

“Left!” Mya turned, a boulder crashing through a building, the lanterns breaking and flaring inside.

Petor tore his eyes away a boulder striking the ground, tearing up the stones and leaving a dirt groove in the ground as it shattered and came to rest in dozens of broken fragments.

He jumped, using one arm to lever himself over, Sorelli’s catapults firing.

A fire pot crashed into one, those manning it screaming, two jumped from the catapult mounting, falling the ten meters to the ground, one’s scream’s mercifully ending, the others in terrible moans.

Wood was nailed into the wall with massive hammers over breaches. Mortar and clay covered stones pushed into the breaches, held fast by the remains of the wall and the wood bracing.

Yesterday and last night’s rain had stopped any of it from hardening.

Guards, priests and adventurers streamed in from across the city.

Boulders smashed through a wall, spraying stone across the broken landscape beyond the wall.

Mya held up her hand as if shading it from the sun.  “And thurr goes the repairs!”

Petor clamped down on the chuckle that threatened to bubble up, Valter snorted beside him.

Valter tapped Petor and tossed him a spear.

“Be wanting that one back now.”

Petor moved it in his grip. “And you’ll have it, thanks.”

“Supposed to be four horsemen, three doesn’t quite sound the same.” Valter grinned and drew a sword and shield, running after Mya.

Petor followed them, Desari pulling up the rear.

Archers fired over the walls, young boys running with bundles of arrows to fill the baskets behind them. Cranes lifted ammunition for the catapults as men cranked on wheels to bring the catapults back down for firing.

“You lot go there,” a guard captain yelled, waving at Mya and pointing to a section of wall infront of him.

Lightning struck the walls, arcing between fighters and blowing out a section of the wall, melting the stone it touched.

“Fucking priests!” the guard captain cursed under his breath. Petor looked over the wall. Orbs of light rose to show the enemy advancing across the churned-up farmers fields beyond. Infantry carrying swords and battering rams charged ahead of siege towers that wobbled over the fields.

Mya pulled her spy glass. “Looks like they opened the portals. Got reinforcements. They’re advancing their artillery under barriers.”

“Where is the head chancellor?” the guard captain asked a nearby priest in a low voice. Petor kept watching ahead, listening.

“He’s, indisposed.” The priest said awkwardly.

“There’s two fucking gods and their heretic hosts attacking us, what the hell is more important?”

“The Inquisition took him in for questioning, Berox ordered it.” The priest snapped.

“What the hell? He’s the strongest caster we have. What are the inquisition doing taking him in?”

“I suggest you change your tone, you don’t know who is listening.” The priest hissed.

“We need everyone we can get to help us fight off these bastards. What about a blessing to reinforce the wall?”

“I’m still cut off from his benevolence.” The priest ground out.

“Shit.”

Shadows congealed together like sentient oil, congealing into a humanoid beast four meters tall.

It’s hand turned into a scythe aimed at Desari. She jumped out of the way, the scythe-hand leaving a glass smooth cut in the stone. Runes lit up Petor’s borrowed spear as he drove it into the beast’s side.

It let out a roar as Petor inhaled power, flooding his channels with essence and mana.

The beast backed up, Petor’s spear consuming torn shadows.

The beast bellowed, flames born of shadow crashed into the ground like a run-away cart and charged Petor.

It hit him and threw him back. Those unfortunate to get caught in the attack screamed out.

Petor’s skin was torn apart and reformed as he pushed himself up despite the pain. Mana draining out of him with each second.

Those around him hadn’t been as lucky, their armor melted, their bodies burnt. The guard captain and the priest among them.

Valter swung his sword, its edge glowing as it cut into the shadow’s leg, the shadows bubbled and smoked as it fell to one knee.

“Hey fucker!” Mya had pulled out a blunderbuss, firing the tuba-like weapon. The blast of light partially blinded.

He blinked against the volcano of light. Shadows rushed to fill the void in the middle of the beast, gathering around a black gem.

Desari’s sword took off the beast’s arm. It lashed out at Mya, Valter reached her first, the blow ringing off of his shield and pushing the big man back.

Petor stumbled forward, raising his spear.

“Petor!” Mya used Valter as a springboard, leaping at the shadow beast. It was too slow as she slashed out with her sword, hitting the black gem free towards Petor. Petor stabbed at the gem one eye closed against his blood.

Instead of being hard it was soft.

Essence and mana ran down through his spear and into his body. His wounds washed away with the coursing power.

It was more than his channels could hold. He compressed it into his core, as he’d read from the books Desari shared. He felt strained as if his entire was being compressed. It passed like a nail coming free from wood instead of the cracking feeling of glass from before. It stressed his body as the essence continued to fill him, the mixed core now becoming solid red.

Valter stood with a grunt. Petor touched him on the shoulder.

Valter’s eyes turned red for a half second as he sucked up all the essence Petor could give him. “Always been slow to gather mana,” Valter breathed in. “By the iron its been a long time since I was this full.”

The gem like object turned to dust and fell off Petor’s spear.

“Damn abyss,” Petor muttered.

“Light snack,” Valter elbowed him lightly with a smile.

Guards and fighters stared at one another and then their group.

“Those of you with medical training, check on the dead,” Petor yelled.

“You five,” Desari pointed at guild members. “You move to the left, everyone keep shooting arrows! If you don’t have arrows then get stones and ready your axes.”

With some solid orders they started getting organized again.

Petor was still taking in essence, his red core showing Orange flecks like fireflies rising at dusk.

“I’m getting overloaded with mana from the shadow thing, I don’t have a way to drain it,” Petor muttered to Valter.

“Dump it into my armor.”

Petor slapped his hand on Valter’s shoulder and pushed.

“Lemme know when to stop,” Petor said, feeling the strain of his mana channels slacken.

“Take the edge off, give the rest to Desari and Mya,” Valter said, shooting an attacker that made it to the top of the walls.

The mana settled, just above straining.

“Desari!” Petor tapped Valter on the shoulder and ran over to her.

She fired an arrow sending a fighter back across the wall with a gurgled cry. “What is it?”

“Mana?” Petor held up his hand, near her shoulder.

“Fine.” She strung another arrow and released.

Petor  put his hand on her and pushed the mana into her. It met a resistance. Should I push harder?

The resistance evaporated and the mana streamed through, his channels relaxing from the burden.

Desari let out a sigh.

“We’re going to have to charge up some essence crystals.” She drew on her bow, two arrows appeared next to the physical one as she released.

They cut their own paths, weaving through defenders to hit attackers.

Petor drained the excess mana and then cut into his reserves slightly.

“Done,” He said.

“There’s more of those shadow beasts,” Valter pointed with his arbalest, firing and cranking back the lever pulling on the string.

“Looks like they’re focusing on the gates, kill those around it to make it easier for the reinforcements coming up behind,” Mya cleaned and reloaded her blunder buss.

“Those siege towers are going to be a pain, but the worst are those ladders, there are even some carrying rams,” Valter said. “We’re only ten meters up, easy for the ladders. The rams.” He shrugged. “There are three gates in and they have porticullis’. Ram’ll take out the gates, but the porticullis’ will hold for a good while.”

Massive stone hands reached out of the ground and pulled a stone head up, the humanoid stone shook dirt off like a human might shake off water.

Desari leaned over the wall to get a clear look. “Stone golems, great.” She drew and arrow and fired.

Mya finished reloading her blunder buss and changed it for another weapon.

“This is called a rifle,” She winked at Petor and looked through a spyglass contraption ontop.

Valter braced himself against a crenellation firing his automated bow, replacing the cannister underneath once it was finished.

Petor pulled out his slingshot and picked up a piece of stone. “Gonna have to get something flashier than a stone chucker to keep up with you three.”

“Use the ballista,” Mya fired, and ducked back behind a crenellation, reloading by feel she jutted her chin towards the shadow burned part of the wall. She cocked the lever on the top of her rifle, turned the opposite side of the crenellation and fired.

Petor along the wall in a crouch to the ballista. “Everything looks good.”

He drew back the lever wheel at the base, straining slightly at the work that would have taken three men as the firing mechanism held it in place.

He dropped the lever, picking up a bolt and sliding it into place.

“Aim for the ones pushing the towers!” Valter said.

The ballista went through two corners of the siege tower, breaking the structure and collapsing it.

“We’ve got breaches on the left side!” A guard yelled out.

“Hold here, they’ll figure it out,” Desari said.

A section of wall was torn apart with catapult boulders.

Petor hauled back on the lever again and reloaded.

Valter turned and ran, jumping over the wall into the catapult pit.

“Shift your fire to the left!”

“Good hits Valter! Shift fire left and bring it in!” Mya yelled, reloading and firing.

Petor turned and fired on another siege tower the bolt went through the sides of the siege tower. It paused for a few seconds as he started reloading, and then kept moving.

“Ladders!” Petor yelled as the first infantry made it under the walls.

“Aim over the walls, drop rubble on them if you can!” Valter put his weapons away and grabbed a section of stone broken by the shadow beast’s attack. He heaved it up and threw it down over a ladder.

Wood broke and screams came from below.